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| Judith on camel, far left, with pyramids in background. |
The newest member of Cosmo's Board, Judith Gordon, has been an advocate of meeting people from around the world and sharing ideas about almost everything for more than thirty years.
While still in a small high school in rural Arkansas, she had the opportunity to spend six weeks in Switzerland as an international Girl Scout representative of five southern states. This changed her life, leading her into an interest in languages and cultures that has never faded.
As an undergraduate in Dallas, Texas, she studied Spanish and German and went to Puerto Rico as an exchange student for one semester and fell in love with the island and the people there. After graduating from Southern Methodist University in Texas, she returned to Puerto Rico for 25 years, married a native of the island, taught English as a second language and English composition and literature in the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, and raised a son, Marco Antonio.
While in Puerto Rico, Judith studied French, Latin, and some Japanese and became immersed in Puerto Rican life and culture to the point that her friends said that she had the "mancha del plátano" (the stain of the plantain, i.e., she became a "native" of the island).
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| Judith on camel, far left, with pyramids in background. |
Judith now works in the Division of English as an International Language at the U of I, setting up English and Spanish (and even Russian) programs that meet needs of businesses and associations. Her job often moves in the direction of community service and improving cross-cultural communication and understanding. This August it took her to Egypt to direct a teacher-training institute in English for Specific Purposes for four weeks in Alexandria. Getting to know Egyptian people and culture was a lot of fun—her only complaint was a need for more time to learn Arabic!
After the Institute ended, Judith traveled to Cairo, Aswan, Abul Simbel, Luxor, and the Sinai Peninsula.
Judith believes that there is so much to learn and share that life will never be boring. For her, people are wonderful and fascinating, and learning about others and teaching and sharing brings joy. To quote one of her favorite poems by Rabindranath Tagore which she first read in Spanish:
| Soñé que la vida era alegría. Desperté y vi que la vida era servicio. Serví y vi que el servicio era alegría. |
I dreamed that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I served and saw that service was joy. |
Judith has been a supporter of the Cosmopolitan Club ever since she lived in the house while working on a Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics at the University of Illinois, and was a member of the Program Committee for two years prior to being brought on to the Board.
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